Toward joint liability supply chains: Addressing the root causes of labor violations in international subcontracting networks.

Abstract

On the morning of April 24, 2013, Rana Plaza, an eight-story building in Bangladesh that housed five garment factories, collapsed, killing at least 1,129 workers.1 The collapse was the most deadly disaster in the history of the global garment industry and, indeed, one of the worst industrial workplace disasters in history.2 Media coverage of the factory collapse and its aftermath fueled a longstanding campaign by a coalition of unions and NGOs to address what had become, well before this latest tragedy, a crisis in building and fire safety in Bangladesh.3 Under intense pressure, within a month of the Rana Plaza collapse, more than three dozen of the world’s largest apparel brands and retailers, including H&M, Inditex (owner of the Zara brand), Tesco, and